When Peter Taylor was appointed manager of Leicester City, those who follow the fortunes of all things Filbert were rubbing their hands with glee.

Here was the coach who led the England Under-21 side to many of their greatest triumphs and the man many, including the City board, had identified as the only possible successor to Martin O'Neill.

With almost foolish haste, Taylor took his team to the top of the Premiership following an eight-game unbeaten run at the start of last season, but 12 months on he is yet another casualty of panic-induced boardroom haste.

That the same fate awaited Stuart Gray and Jim Smith was inevitable rather than unexpected. Job security, it would seem, is anathema in a profession where the sack is as prevalent as the kit bag.

Aston Villa manager John Gregory was tipped to go the same way earlier this year following four straight league defeats in January. It was an FA Cup replay victory over Newcastle which kept him in his job and today the outspoken Londoner brings his team to Tyneside sitting pretty at the top of Europe's most competitive league.

Villa chairman Doug Ellis is not noted for his understanding, but the decision to keep faith with Gregory is already reaping rewards.

"If you are a chairman who has a good guy in charge, and you understand that he's a good guy, then I think it's important that you stick with him," agreed Bobby Robson in reference to Ellis' courageous employment strategy.

"Everybody in this game is looking for a consistent run of results and making changes at the top doesn't help that.

"Unless you're Manchester United you will get a run of adverse results from time to time, but stability and continuity at a football club is important.

"Wherever that's been allowed to happen, clubs have benefited from it."

Newcastle are now experiencing the most stable period in the club's recent history and a serious top-six challenge seems achievable.

Sunderland have established themselves as serious Premiership material thanks to Bob Murray's unstinted confidence in his manager Peter Reid, while Manchester United are the prime example of how it pays to be patient.

Of course there is no guarantee the Old Trafford board would be as lenient now as they were when Sir Alex Ferguson first took over his much sought-after post and Robson agrees the sport he loves is becoming less about football and more about money.

"These days football is more business-orientated than sport-orientated, but if I was a young coach I'd still do everything all over again," he added, with that pre-match glint in his eyes which still shines through the day before a competitive fixture.

"In many ways it's such a terrific industry, but like so many industries there is always pressure.

"If you look at the managerial casualties this season, they've all been linked to a run of poor results and that has never changed. It just seems that patience at the top level is becoming thinner and thinner.

"A lot of the managers who have lost their jobs this season are good guys who know their football and that's the disappointing aspect of it all.

"It's still a marvellous sport, but it's a bit sad when one result can lead to one manager keeping his job and another losing his. As far as I can tell, that was the situation when Southampton played West Ham and we can do without that."

There is no such fate riding on today's encounter between two teams who have been bridesmaids, rather than top flight football's bride, for far too long now.

Neither team is likely to win the league this season, but both Newcastle and Villa are under pressure to turn solid starts into European qualification come May.

Should that dream dissipate because of a dire run of results, then even Robson and Gregory could find themselves clinging to the edge of the managerial trapdoor before long.

As Robson has pointed out on a number of occasions, the only certainty in football is its uncertainty.

Today's Premiership match of the day will tell those present nothing about the long-term security of two of England's most respected managers.